JOURNAL

Art Edition III: Pop-Art x Christmas

It’s that time of year again: BIKINI BERLIN is once again surprising with a new artist cooperation for the concept shopping mall’s popular, limited-edition festive wrapping paper, which is traditionally presented at the gift-wrapping station in an out-of-the-ordinary art installation in front of the so-called ‘monkey window’ on the ground floor. This year, BIKINI BERLIN managed to get artist Sebastian Haslauer on board, both for the design of the exclusive sheets of wrapping paper and the installation. His artworks have been exhibited in galleries everywhere from New York to Basel and Prague. We visited the likeable artist at his atelier.

Just a stone’s throw away from Potsdamer Platz in a typical historic Berlin residential building surrounded by new builds is Sebastian’s atelier, which he shares with other artists. Next to huge canvases in the light-suffused space we discover countless magazines and folders. Sebastian not only works with the collage technique with magazine cut-outs, but also with acrylic and gloss paints.

From the idea to the reality: the BIKINI BERLIN wrapping paper

His briefing was that every image composition should have a main character, be Christmassy, feature influences from 60s Palm Springs and exude a certain pop appeal. With these parameters, Sebastian sifted through his materials, looking for suitable moods and colour schemes. Sebastian describes his working process as associative and manual. For him, making collages is like a game or a puzzle.

A few steps are required until the finished composition is in place. All collages have been made and put together or arranged on the paper by hand. The next step was to digitalise the collages so they could be printed. We were there when Sebastian unpacked the finished product, hot off the press, for the very first time. It was a very exciting moment as the print and the paper can make a decisive difference to the end result.

This meanwhile third wrapping paper edition is available from BIKINI BERLIN up to and including 24 December 2018 and is free of charge for all visitors. And if you want, you can also have your gifts wrapped directly for you at the festive gift-wrapping station.